TRITONS WELCOME WARRIORS TO OPEN LEAGUE SLATEThe 21st-ranked UCSD baseball team begins its defense this weekend of four consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular-season championships. The Tritons welcome in the Warriors of Cal State Stanislaus for a four-game series beginning Friday night, Feb. 15, under the lights at Triton Ballpark. UCSD is 5-2 coming off of a second straight three-game non-conference series victory and an extra-inning win at home over Point Loma Nazarene on Tuesday night. Stanislaus is 3-4.

WEEKEND MATCH-UPSThe series opener with Cal State Stanislaus this Friday, Feb. 15, will begin at 6 p.m. A doubleheader will follow at 12 p.m. on Saturday, with the second game a shortened seven-inning affair. Sunday's finale is set for an 11 a.m. first pitch. Friday's game will see Triton staff ace Ryan Goodbrand, the reigning NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week, take his unblemished record up against fellow senior right-hander Byron Lemon. Dan Kolodin kicks off Saturday's twin bill against another sophomore right-hander in Dustin Baisdon, while junior left-hander Justin Rahn should draw his first collegiate pitching start in the nightcap against senior right-hander Rafael Vasquez. Sophomore left-hander Trevor Scott faces junior right-hander Michael York on Sunday.

LIVE COVERAGEAll UCSD home games at Triton Ballpark this season again feature a live online video stream and live stats, both free of charge. Weekday games during the conference season will also have audio commentary, with former Triton pitcher Tim Strombel (2007-08) calling the action. Friday's conference opener against Cal State Stanislaus will mark Strombel's season debut. Fans can access live video and live stats from the Schedule/Results tab of the baseball page at UCSDtritons.com. Most road games will also at minimum have live stats available, with links active at that same location on the baseball team's Schedule/Results page. Finally, starting lineups, live between-inning updates and other in-game news and notes can be found during home contests by following Triton Baseball all season long on the UCSD Athletics Twitter handle (@UCSDtritons).

TICKET PRICESGeneral admission tickets to all regular-season home games at Triton Ballpark are $5, and are available for purchase beginning one hour prior to start time. All UCSD students are admitted FREE with valid ID. A parking permit is required on the UCSD campus on weeknights. They can be purchased at the machine near the parking lot entrance.

SCOUTING CAL STATE STANISLAUSCal State Stanislaus is off to a 3-4 start to the 2013 season. The Warriors, who finished 27-23 overall a year ago and an even 20-20 for seventh place in the 11-team CCAA, have lost four games out of the gate despite posting a miniscule 2.18 ERA. Conversely, Stanislaus is hitting just .223 as a team thus far. Clint Brill (.444), Skippy Ferreria (.333) and Andrew Graves (.333) have seen the most success at the plate. Justin Charles has driven in five runs. Friday starter Byron Lemon is 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA over his two starts, with a team-best 11 strikeouts against a single walk in 14.2 innings of work. Last time out, Cal State Stanislaus dropped both ends of a home doubleheader to Fresno Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 9 (1-3, 0-3), after having swept a twin bill at Fresno Pacific just one day prior (7-4, 3-2). Kenny Leonesio is in his 11th season as the Cal State Stanislaus head coach.

SERIES HISTORYUCSD leads the all-time series between these teams, 32-22. The Tritons won the 2012 series in Turlock, three games to one, with the Warriors narrowly salvaging the seven-inning finale, 7-6, after UCSD had clinched the set by final scores of 3-2, 11-4 and 12-8. The lone loss snapped a 15-game win streak for the Tritons against Stanislaus going back to May 9, 2008. The last meeting in La Jolla took place in 2011, with the Tritons earning the sweep, 4-2, 2-1, 2-1 and 18-1. UCSD has won 11 straight over the Warriors in La Jolla since a 7-1 defeat on April 27, 2007.

TRITONS IN THE NATIONAL POLLSUCSD moved up one spot for the second straight week, from No. 22 to No. 21, in the latest installment of the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II poll, released each Monday. The Tritons dropped from No. 17 to No. 22 in the second in-season edition of the D2 Baseball News listing. College Baseball Lineup has the Tritons still at No. 20, where they had them rated in the preseason. The fourth and final national poll for the NCAA Division II, conducted by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), has stuck with its preseason ranking thus far, with UCSD beginning the new year at No. 19.

UCSD TAKES EXTRA-INNING THRILLER OVER CITY RIVALSUCSD is coming off of a come-from-behind, 6-5 victory over crosstown foe Point Loma Nazarene in 11 innings on Tuesday night at Triton Ballpark. The Tritons scored twice in the ninth and nabbed the decider in the 11th as Danny Susdorf walked to lead off, moved to second when Dillon Moyer was plunked, and sprinted home on a Justin Rahn sacrifice when the Sea Lion pitcher threw the ball away. Earlier in the game, it was vintage Susdorf as the senior leadoff man singled to right on a 1-2 pitch to open the home seventh, stole second and third, and scored on a wild pitch to give UCSD a 3-2 edge.

GOODBRAND NAMED NCBWA WEST REGION PITCHER OF THE WEEKRyan Goodbrand was named on Tuesday, Feb. 12, as the 2013 season's first National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) West Region Pitcher of the Week. The initial award encompassed the first two weekends of the season, from Feb. 1-10. During that span, Goodbrand threw 11.0 scoreless innings over two starts, both wins, allowing five hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts. It was the second weekly West Region honor of his career after Feb. 28, 2012.

THREE TRITONS ON TINO MARTINEZ AWARD WATCH LISTRyan Goodbrand, Danny Susdorf and Garrett Tuck were named on Monday, Feb. 11, to the 150-player watch list for the 2013 Tino Martinez Award. Given annually to the top Division II player in the nation, the honor is named after the former University of Tampa Spartan, United States Olympian, first-round draft pick and Major League Baseball All-Star, Tino Martinez. Susdorf was a semifinalist a year ago. After being narrowed down to semifinalists (May 6) and finalists (May 20), the 2013 winner will be announced on June 3, two days after the NCAA Division II championship game. Bryan Fogle of Erskine (2010), Chase Larsson of Cameron (2011) and Nathan Minnich of Shepherd (2012) were the previous recipients.

BACK-TO-BACK SERIES WINS OVER TOUGH OPPOSITIONUCSD posted a second straight three-game non-conference series victory against a well-regarded foe last weekend, traveling by bus to Phoenix, Ariz., to take a pair from former conference rival Grand Canyon, who was receiving votes in a national poll going in. The Tritons held off late ‘Lopes rallies to win each of the first two games, themselves rallying in the middle affair to turn a 4-2 deficit into an 8-4 lead through a six-run eighth. On the season's opening weekend, UCSD nabbed the rubber game from then-No. 20 Colorado Mesa, 8-4, at Triton Ballpark on Sunday, Feb. 3, to win that series.

FOLLOW THE TRITONS
There are now more ways than ever to follow the Tritons. You’ve always got UCSDtritons.com at your fingertips, but our social media scene continues to grow. Get instant updates on Twitter (@UCSDtritons) and like us on Facebook. For a more visual approach, watch our YouTube channel. Follow the Tritons all year long on social media! Also, be sure to check out head coach Eric Newman on Twitter (@CoachEricNewman).